One of the greatest revolutions in the electronics sphere has been devices with touch-sensitive displays. “Smart” phones, tablet computers, GPS devices and other advanced devices allow for a touch-based interface between a user and the device. A typical smart phone allows one to access Internet, email, phone, pictures, music, applications, and a host of other features through finger-based actions on a touch-sensitive screen.
One of the challenges of touch-sensitive screens has been their relative fragility. A veritable cottage industry exists for replacing and fixing cracked screens associated with phones and tablet computers. While very solid and sophisticated cases exist for the body of modern portable computerized devices with touch screens (“computerized devices”), the touch-sensitive screen generally remains available or is only nominally covered so as to allow user access for answering and making calls and otherwise accessing the device's wide functionality. Annual losses due to cracked or broken touch screens on smartphones are over $1B. Placing a thick solid piece over the touch-sensitive area would make the phone unusable until the solid piece was removed for display access.
The current state of affairs leaves a user with a choice. If the screen is covered with a thick cover, then the display is safe from damage but the computerized devices are for all purposes unusable. If the screen is available for user access, then the risk exists for damage to the screen from falls, impacts, children misuse or other accidents. As of today, there is little way to both protect a touch-sensitive (glass, generally) screen and still allow for unfettered access to the wide range of smart device functions enumerated above.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,044,942 to Leonard, et al teaches a touch screen protector for a hand held electronic device having a front face that includes a touch screen portion and an outer perimeter. The touch screen protector of the invention comprises a plastic film having front and back sides, an outer perimeter that corresponds to that of the device, and a transparent window; and a spacer provided along the outer perimeter of the plastic film surrounding the transparent window, having a thickness sufficient to space the plastic film near but not in contact with the touch screen portion, and an exposed adhesive for removably mounting the protector upon the outer perimeter of the front face to form an enclosed air space between the transparent window of the plastic film, the spacer and the touch screen portion of the device.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/977,919 to Karpfinger describes a user-configurable, tactile interface system that includes mechanical buttons with several mounting options, and several methods to interface with touch-sensing devices. A user can activate a touch on a touch sensing device by pressing a physical pad, which may be textured, or raised.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,495,895 to Carnevali. Describes a protective cover for a device having a touch-sensitive screen, the cover being a substantially optically transparent flexible protective cover formed of a unitary combination of a mask portion substantially surrounded with a plurality of integrally interconnected curtain portions extending therefrom and forming therebetween a plurality of interconnected lip portions, the mask, curtain and lip portions forming a cavity therebetween with the lip portions surrounding a mouth opening thereinto; and the mask portion further having a relatively thicker frame portion surrounding a relatively thinner recessed integral window portion formed of a flexible membrane that is positioned over the device's touch screen.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/949,177 to Park, teaches an LCD screen protector for LCD devices, which is made of thin, tempered glass or reinforced plastics with great strength, strongly adhered on the surface of an LCD device to protect the LCD device from external shocks. The LCD screen protector includes a protective plate made of tempered glass or reinforced plastics with good anti-bendability and a ring-shaped band with elasticity protrudingly formed on an outer circumference of the protective plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,550 to Yamaguchi describes a protective sheet mount structure for a display which may be employed in electronic cash registers. The structure includes a frame mount formed on a frame of a display around an opening through which a display screen is exposed, a protective sheet covering the display screen, and a sheet mount frame fitted in the frame mount detachably to retain the protective sheet on the frame of the display.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,660,389 to Junkang teaches information display protectors for display devices having an information display area, comprising a stack of flexible substantially transparent sheets, the sheets having on one side thereof an adhesive layer and having on the other side thereof a hardcoat layer comprising inorganic oxide particles dispersed in a binder matrix and a low surface energy fluorinated compound, the stack being cut so that the sheets will fit the information display area. The low surface energy fluorinated compound can be part of the hardcoat layer or can be a separate layer atop the hardcoat layer. The protectors have very good scratch, smudge and glare resistance. The stack of protectors can be stored, for example, on a personal digital assistant or its cover or case.
The prior art generally describes display covers that offer display access but no serious display protection from falls, impacts and other potential damage.